A comeback season for the Swift Current Full Line Ag Broncos culminated with a comeback 3-1 win to clinch the South Sask Female Midget AA Hockey League championship season on Wednesday.
The Broncos fell behind early but scored three unanswered goals to sweep the Regina Capitals in the best-of-three series.
Kalea Sauder tied the game in the second period, before Chelsea Wilson and Courtney Funk scored in the third period to seal the win. Amaya Giraudier earned the win in goal. Chelsea Wilson, Bailey Wilson, Sauder, and Sara Kendall all picked up assists.
“I think we started a bit nervous,” admitted head coach Dexter Wilson. “Got down by one and started to come back. That has kind of been the fashion of our year to come from behind. The girls just never give up, they play until the end every game.”
The Broncos had finished fifth in the regular season with a 14-9-5 record before getting past the fourth-seeded Parkland Lions, the top-ranked Estevan Panthers, and the second-seeded Regina Capitals.
“I believed in this team right from the start. Even though we didn’t have a good record, we had a great team. I am just really proud of the girls,” said Wilson.
Wilson noted that he had written down early in the season that the team had a 1-5-1 record.
“The last 10 games our record was 8-1-1, we finished on a seven-game winning streak. It has just been phenomenal the way the girls have come together,” he explained.
It has been a standout season for Swift Current Minor Hockey, including league and provincial titles from the Bantam AA Kabos Broncos, and a league title for the Peewee AA Southwest Terminal Broncos.
“It’s great,” said Wilson. “It almost adds more pressure to kind of contribute. It says a lot for the program in Swift Current. I think we are really strong and we have a bright future. On our team alone we lose one kid to age. This team is over half Bantams, 12 rookies. It is amazing how far they have come.”
